Could it be ? (NCIS)
by FromMy-GREEN-Perspective
Summary: The CIA uncovered a terrorist cell and they rescued a prisoner who happened to be Ziva's 16-year old cousin Ava. The reunion after almost 11 years isn't cozy looking at the circumstances. Ava has been through a lot and needs Ziva right now. Story is better than the summary ;) I'm still writing this story so i don't really know what's gonna happen yet ;) * little mentions of rape*
1. Chapter 1

**_COULD IT BE ?_**

When Ziva came into the bullpen, Tony ran right into her "Hey Ziva, there's a girl here. She says her name is Ava and that she's your cousin." Ziva froze immediately. Could it be? The last time Ziva had seen Ava was when Ava was about five years old.

"Can I see her ?" she just asked, not wanting to tell Tony anything before she was sure that it actually was Ava and not just a spy from the Iranian Intelligence. "Sure, but I should warn you. She was rescued from a terrorist cell and she isn't in the best of states… actually she's even in the worst for a young woman, if you know what I'm trying to say." Ziva stared at him with a scary mixture of shock and anger in her eyes "No, no they wouldn't." Tony felt terrible for having to tell his partner such bad news. "It appears they would and did. I'm sorry, Ziva." He felt the urgent need to hug her but he knew that now was not the time. "Bring me to her, Tony!" Ziva demanded. Tony nodded and led her to the conference room.

Gibbs was sitting there with a maybe 16-year old girl. She was very beautiful and you could see the relation between Ziva and her right away, with her dark brown, curly hair and chocolate brown eyes. But right now she looked nothing but beaten. Her arms were covered in bruises and deep cuts in her face were overshadowing her beautiful features. As Ziva took a closer look she noticed that the girl was shaking and in her eyes she could see fear, sorrow and disgust of herself. It was obvious that she was broken. Ziva gave Tony a silent sign to stay back and he did as he was told. She slowly walked towards her cousin, not wanting to scare her. When Ava noticed Ziva she quickly turned her head around and jumped up. "Don't panic. I won't hurt you, Munchkin!" Ziva exclaimed in Hebrew. Munchkin was the nickname she had always used for her back in Israel since "The Wizard of Oz" had been one of Ava's favorite movies. Ava stared at her for a few seconds, until she recognized Ziva. "Ziva ? Is this really you ?" she asked with a tiny sparkle of hope in her still watery eyes. "Yes it's really me." She couldn't even finish her sentence before the young girl hugged her with all the strength in her body and started sobbing hysterically. Ziva just hugged her back and held her tight. Right then she noticed that Tony and Gibbs were gone. They probably wanted to give the two cousins some alone time together and Ziva really appreciated it.

After a few minutes Ava had calmed down a little and the two of them sat down. "So, what happened after I left Israel?" Ziva asked, still holding Ava's hand tight. "Your father recruited me when I was ten and after four years of training I became a Mossad officer." she answered coldly. The only emotion on her face was hate. Hatred on Eli David. He had always wanted her to join Mossad but she had to be ten to be able to be recruited. Ziva herself was incredibly mad at her dead father for recruiting Ava. Ever since she had been born, Ziva had tried to convince her father not to recruit her because she had always wanted a better life for her beloved cousin. But Eli David had always been known to do and to always get what he wanted. "That explains how you got captured" Ziva noted. Shariv looked at her in shock. She hadn't expected Ziva to be so direct. But she should have known better. Ziva always had been direct and straight forward. So she took a very deep shaky breath "Yes." Ziva nodded knowingly and thought about ways to ask her what those bastards had done to her. It was hard for Ziva to ask this question because she actually wasn't so sure if she really wanted to know what her little cousin had had to endure. Tony had said something earlier but Ziva refused to even consider it. Even though she knew damn well that terrorists could be ruthless to get information. That they would not stop themselves from abusing a young woman in the worst of ways there are.

When Ziva gave it a thought the anger boiled inside of her. All she wanted to do now was to find those pigs and make them pay for what they did. Especially because Ziva had always been overly protective of Ava and also she felt kind of guilty that this had happened to her. But then again, what exactly had happened to her? "Ava… you know I want to help you, right?" Ziva asked carefully. "Yes, I know. You are the only person which I feel like I can trust." Ava answered without hesitating. When she heard that a little smile wandered over Ziva's lips. She was happy that her cousin trusted her even though they hadn't seen each other in eleven years. It meant the world to her. "Okay because now I need you to listen to me carefully. You know, if you want us to help you, you need to tell us what happened while you were captured. And trust me, I know that it is the hardest thing to do and that it seems impossible because I have been where you are right now some years ago. And I am telling you that you can do it. I'll help you with it. I promise that you won't have to do this alone." Even though Ziva had tried to comfort her by telling her that she'll help her, Ava started trembling again. The fear that nearly had been erased from her eyes entirely before, came back and overshadowed the relief that she had felt when Ziva had come into the room.

Ziva was shocked at her reaction. It showed her how deeply traumatized the young girl actually was. But she also silently cursed herself. She should have known not to ask her about it this early. "Hey Shari, you can take your time. I won't push anything. Now, how do you feel about grabbing a smoothie and then going to the park?" Ziva watched her cousin relaxing again and after Ava had taken some breaths she nodded "Yeah I think I'd like that." Ziva smiled at her and got up. She offered her hand to Ava who looked at her with an "Are you serious?" – look "Ziva please, I'm not a kid. I am perfectly capable of getting up myself." Ziva couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. And she was right. Ziva still thought of her as the little kid that she needed to protect and not as the teenager she was by now. But on the other hand she was in such a breakable state right now that Ziva wasn't even sure if she was able to get up or even make it to the smoothie-shop. Ava smiled when she saw Ziva laugh, it hadn't happened too often that she had seen Ziva laugh when she had been just a little kid. They went to the elevator and made their way over to the 'Groovey-Smoothie' to get their drinks.

When Ziva and her young cousin were gone, Tony turned to McGee "Hey, McGeek! How do you feel about the fact that Ziva obviously has a cousin and never told us about it?" McGee had already guessed that Tony would start this conversation as soon as Ziva was out the door so he just rolled with his eyes "Tony, you know pretty well that Ziva never talks about her private life if you don't go on her nerves 24/7. Did you ever consider that she maybe just didn't want to tell you?" Tony put on his sarcastic smile "Oh McGee, you don't know what kind of a relationship Ziva and I have. We are an open book for each other." McGee sighed "Well, maybe you are for her." McGee sometimes honestly thought that Tony didn't have anything better to do than harassing his co-workers. "Tony, instead of accusing Ziva of betrayal to you, you should be happy for her. I think it's good for her to have a family member left. Even though I wish it was under better circumstances." He said, thinking about the traumatized teenager he had seen earlier. He had never seen so much fear in one persons eyes. He also thought about how her attitude had changed when Ziva had entered the room. It had been obvious that they got along amazingly. "Don't get me wrong, Bambino. I am very happy for her, I was just wondering. I really feel sorry for Ava. It's incredible what she already had to do at her young age and also what she already had to endure. I hope that Ducky will be able to help her to get rid of the traumatization." Tony answered, deeply sunk in thoughts. "Yes, me too. She's just a teenager and she deserves to be happy. And I assume that she was forced into this assassin life by Eli. Right now I would die to get a chance to shoot him myself one more time." McGee agreed. And that Tony and McGee agreed didn't happen often.

**SO THAT'S THE FIRST CHAPTER...WHAT DO YO THINK SO FAR ? I'LL UPLOAD THE NEXT CHAPTER WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK ;)**

**THIS IS MY VERY FIRST STORY AND I NEED FEEDBACK SO PLEEEEASE REVIEW ! :)**

**I DON'T OWN NCIS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR AVA WHICH I INVENTED.**

**COPYRIGHT FOR ALL CHARACTERS EXCEPT AVA: CBS ENTERTAINMENT.**


	2. Chapter 2

COULD IT BE? (NCIS)

After Ziva and Ava had gotten their drinks the two of them went into the park. They sat down on a bank watched the other people pass by. "You know what? I think Agent Dinozzo has a thing for you." Ava said out of the blue. Ziva turned her head around to her cousin and looked at her surprised. It was unbelievable that Ava had been able to study Tony this carefully while she was in this state. "Really?" Ziva asked, anxious for her answer "Why?" Ava laughed a little "Come on Ziva, it's obvious that he cares a lot about you." "Yes I know he does but that doesn't make him have a crush on me. We are co-workers and when the other one needs help we're always there for each other. He helped me with my problems after he, McGee and Gibbs had rescued me from Somalia. I will never be able to thank him enough for that. We have a pretty special relationship, I'll give you that and yes I love him but not like a boyfriend." Ava nodded "Oh, okay. I understand and he is extremely lucky to have you in his life. I hope he knows that." Ziva smiled a little sadly "No, he deserves so much better. I'm lucky to have him in my life." Ava punched her in the arm forcefully "Ziva David! Don't you ever say anything like that again. Your goals were always honorable and even though you killed a lot of people it doesn't make you a bad person. Eli raised you to become a killer. You never had a choice. And the choices you made were always for the benefit of others. So don't tell me you're not worth of a friend like Tony! Got it?" she scolded. Ziva was once again surprised by Ava "Yes I got it. Thank you." Ziva said and hugged her cousin with a little too much pressure. Ava hissed and cramped all of her muscles. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" She pressed her eyelids together and took a breath. "No. Not you."

Ziva looked at her worriedly. "Ava, we should get you to a hospital and get you checked through. Or we could go and see Ducky. He works in Autopsy and is also an amazing doctor." Ava shook her head "I'm fine" "No you are obviously not! And that's why I'll make the decision. We'll go and see Ducky later. End of story." Ava sighed "You're worse than my mom used to be…" Ziva shook her head "Only if I have to be." Ziva was extremely worried about Ava. Less because of her physical injuries than because of her psychological problems which obviously were pretty intense. She just hoped that Ducky would be able to find out what exactly had happened to her and what kind of troubles she was suffering from. She would ask him to also do a rape-kit because it seemed very much possible to her that those bastards had tortured the young girl in the worst of ways.

"Do you know what I never understood?" Ava asked "What?" "Why did you actually stay in the US?" Ziva thought about that for a second. Did she do it because Ari had said that her father was a soulless monster that had no feelings or because her father had told her to get Gibbs' trust? No, she had always been on Gibbs' side. "You know, before I killed Ari he had said some really horrible things about my father and I didn't know if to believe him or not. So I needed some time away from Mossad, away from him." Ziva explained. Ava shook her head "Whatever Ari said I can promise you that Eli was worse." She remembered how Eli had sent a team of assassins to kill her parents so he could adopt her and train her for Mossad. Her parents had never supported Eli or Mossad. They had always told him to stay away from their daughter so he had them killed. They had only been a burden for him so they had to be eliminated. "Yes he was a bastard but still deep down he was good. And also I can't hate him entirely because despite everything that he has done he still was my father." "I know" Ava noted. Ziva looked at her watch. "Okay come on. It's time to go back if we want to catch Ducky before he leaves." Ava flinched at Ducky's name. Ziva took her hand and whispered calmingly to her in Hebrew "It will be alright. You don't have to be afraid, I'll be with you the entire time. I promise." Ava looked into her cousin's eyes which glowed with honesty and worry at the same time. Then she got up and they walked back to the Navy Yard.

Back at the Navy Yard the two women headed right down to Autopsy. When they walked in the door, Ducky came over to them and greeted Ava with a warm smile "Hello, my dear fellow." Ava just nodded as a greeting "Shalom" "Okay, my young girl. Why don't you go into the next room and change into an examination gown so I can take a closer look on your wounds?" He pointed to a door at the other end of the Autopsy room and Ava made her way over to where he had asked her to go. Then Ducky whispered to Ziva "So, I will check her on inner injuries and look over her wounds to make sure that none of them got infected. Is that okay with you?" Ziva nodded "Ducky… can I ask you to do something else?" "Sure Ziva. What is it?" "Could you please do a rape kit on her? I have a feeling that those people used the worst methods…" Ducky took her hand and squeezed it "It's going to be alright, Ziva. Trust me, she'll get through this." Ziva felt the tears in her eyes and looked down. "Okay. Then let's get this over with"

**MY SECOND CHAPTER :)  
**

**LIKE I SAID IN THE FIRST CHAPTER I DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH WRITING SO I'D APPRECIATE REVIEWS :)**

**I DON'T OWN NCIS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR AVA, WHICH I INVENTED.**

**COPYRIGHT FOR ALL CHARACTERS EXCEPT AVA: CBS ENTERTAINMENT.**


	3. Chapter 3

COULD IT BE? (NCIS)

***Okay before you start reading: I don't know how a r**ekit is done so I just didn't describe it that much and just wrote as I thought it would be at least a little appropriate***

First Ducky had checked Ava's injuries. This had taken a lot of time because her whole body basically was covered in bruises and wounds. She had been sitting still the entire time. Sometimes she had hissed through her teeth and sometimes she had flinched but all in all it hadn't been a problem for her. But when Ducky told her that he would do a rape kit now, she cramped immediately. Her hands formed fists and she pulled her knees up to her chest. Then she started to plead with Ziva "Please don't make me do this!" Ziva took her hand "Ava, I don't want to do this either but due to your reaction we now know for sure that it has happened and now we need to know if he hurt anything when he…" Ava started crying and Ziva hugged her.

Ducky watched the two Israeli girls carefully. He had never seen Ziva like this. She had never been so concerned and vulnerable. He also analyzed Ava's reaction and her entire attitude towards Ziva. It was obvious that the young girl was deeply traumatized and that she was ashamed that those men had used her like this. He also strongly assumed that she felt weak because she had had to be rescued and hadn't been able to free herself. Obviously this ran in their family. It was a tragedy that such a young human had to endure so much torment. It sure would be good for her to have Ziva to talk about it. He assumed that she would prefer talking to Ziva than talking to anyone else, especially because Ziva had been through the same. He looked at Ava again who was still crying into Ziva's chest. Ziva looked at Ducky with nothing but guilt in her eyes, guilt for leaving Israel ten years ago and for not having been able to protect her. "Ava my dear, if you want Ziva to stay with you while I examine you, she can stay here. And I promise you that I'll do it fast and gentle so that it won't even take three minutes." Ducky assured her. Ziva nodded "It'll be over before you know he even started and I'll hold your hand." Ava looked at Ducky then at Ziva. "I tried to displace that it happened, having it examined makes it final… And I don't want it to be final." she explained. Ziva nodded "I know what you mean. As you might know I was captured and interrogated by terrorists about three years ago. They tortured me in every possible way and when they realized that physical pain wouldn't make me talk they raped me. When they realized that this was more affective they did it several times. That was how they broke me. Afterwards I refused to accept it and to talk to anyone about it. However after a few weeks I broke down and told Ducky about it. He examined me and after I had spoken to him I felt so much better. I was still not fine again but I was so relieved and that made life a lot easier. Trust me. Let's get this over with and I promise afterwards you'll feel way better than now."

Ziva's speech gave Ducky and Ava chills. Ava had heard rumors about Ziva having been held hostage by terrorists but having it confirmed was a whole different story. She trusted Ziva with her life and if she told her that it would help to talk about it, she would definately think about doing so. She laid back down and looked at Ziva. When she looked into Zivas' eyes she saw the tears welling up in her cousins' eyes. She squeezed the hand that laid in hers which made Ziva wipe away her tears as fast as possible and focus on Ava again. Ava felt Ducky's hand between her legs and she tried to ignore the sickness that slowly built up inside of her. Right when she thought she couldn't bare it anymore he exclaimed: "Already done!" As soon as she heard that she jumped up, put her clothes back on and ran into the next bathroom. Ziva wanted to run after her but Ducky held her back. "You should give her a minute and I still have to tell you what resolution I got from the examination. Nothing was damaged and thank goodness she isn't pregnant either but it appears that those people raped her repeatedly." That was it. Ziva broke down right in front of him. All the anger, guilt and sorrow that had built up inside of her throughout the entire day just were too much for her. Ducky handed her a tissue and hugged her. "Ziva this is NOT your fault. You couldn't have done anything about it even if you had been there." Ziva shook her head. "Yes I could have. Maybe I would have been able to convince my father to never recruit her. But I was selfish and stayed in America and just let it happen. I should have been there and I should have been sent on this mission instead of her. She doesn't deserve this. She never did anything wrong."

When Ava had calmed down a little she looked into the mirror in the bathroom and whispered to herself. "It's going to be alright. You don't have to be scared. Ziva is with you and she'll help you." Thinking of Ziva made her remember something that one of the terrorist had said to her when they were torturing her: "The last jew whore that I had fun with broke when we did this. You even look like her a little. Let's see if you will as well." Wait, was it possible that he had spoken about Ziva? That would be a hell of a coincidence. Looking into the mirror once more, sighing shakily at the sight of all her bruises, she took one more deep breath before exiting the bathroom. When she headed back to the autopsy room where she had run from earlier she heard Ziva crying and stood still in an instant, not wanting to interfere the conversation she was having with Ducky. So she listened to what Ziva said. "How come she doesn't hate me after what I did?" Ava was shocked at her words. What had Ziva done that would make Ava hate her? "Ziva, it is not your fault that this happened to her and also you know exactly that you couldn't have stopped your father from recruiting her anyway because let's face it: He always did what he wanted." Ducky tried to comfort her. Ava decided that she couldn't let Ziva beat herself up for something that she didn't do and came out of her hiding place to help Ducky comfort her. "He's right Ziva. You couldn't have stopped Eli. He would have just hit you again for questioning his authority. It's not your fault."

Ziva's head shot up when she heard Avas' voice and what she said "You knew?" Ziva asked, "I may have been five years old but I wasn't dumb. Did you honestly think that I didn't see the bruises on your arms?" "Well I had hoped you wouldn't." she said looking to the ground. "That doesn't matter now, Ziva. What matters is that I know that you always protected me from him. I remember how you stood up to him when he yelled at me for playing with dolls when I was four, and also how he slapped you so hard that you fell unconscious. You always stood between me and him, always taking his beatings. I could never hate you for staying in America and finally having a life that's worth living with people that actually really appreciate you and not just look at you as another soldier or another number. Out of all people you are the person deserving to be happy the most. And if staying in America makes you happy then so be it." Ava ended her encouraging speech.

Ducky smiled at her proudly. He found it unbelievable that someone who had just endured so much torment could still be so loving and caring. Ziva also couldn't believe it, this and that Ava still loved her and understood her decisions and reasons. She hugged her tightly. "I could never hate you. You were the only person I ever met that didn't just care about my training or the quality of my work as an assassin. Ziva had no comment on that. She knew first hand that being trained by Eli meant pressure at all times. Bur she also couldn't understand the new director for sending 16-year old to uncover a terrorist cell. She herself hadn't been allowed to go on missions like that before the age of 21 and she had been the director's daughter. It was careless of the new director. "Okay Ava, come on! Let's not bother Ducky any longer." Ziva said getting up. Ava nodded "Of course! Shalom Ducky." Ducky smiled "Shalom my young girl. You are remarkably strong and truly special. Always remember that, alright?" Ava smiled gratefully "Todah!" With that the two women exited the door.

**OKAY, THIS CHAPTER WAS LONG :) AND THE NEXT UPDATE WILL PROBABLY TAKE SOME TIME I'M AFRAID :(**

**I ALWAYS GET EXCITED ABOUT REVIEWS AND ALSO ABOUT POINTERS FOR GRAMMATICAL ISSUES BECAUSE AFTERALL ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE AND I'M ONLY 15 ;)**

**I DON'T OWN NCIS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR AVA, WHICH I INVENTED.**

**COPYRIGHT FOR ALL CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR AVA: CBS ENTERTAINMENT.**


	4. Chapter 4

**COULD IT BE? (NCIS)**

_**Sorry for my long break but I was really busy and also people don't seem to read this story a lot so I thought I'd wait a month or so. ;)**_

Back at the bullpen Ziva offered Ava her chair. She gladly took it. "You know, Ziva? I think I can understand why you stayed here. Everyone is so sweet and nice." "Yes that's one of the main reasons why I stayed here as well." Ziva agreed. Ava smiled a little sadly: "At Mossad I would have only been told to suck it up and maybe would have been punished for getting captured." Ziva nodded "I know how strict they are. But in the end it makes you better." She explained. Ava nodded: ""I know, it's what makes us the best but it also makes us ice cold." Ziva nodded "That's the price." "Then it comes at much too high a cost!" Ziva understood her. 16 was a difficult age to be Mossad but then again being Mossad was always hard. That reminded Ziva of something. How was it possible that the new director of Mossad was so careless with her agents that she had actually sent a 16-year old to uncover a terrorist cell? When she wanted to ask the question she saw Gibbs, Tony and McGee coming out of the elevator. She decided to ask Ava about it later and waved to her co-workers. Ava turned around and saw three men coming towards them. One was Gibbs. He had brought her to the conference room earlier. She liked him because he wasn't overly talkative but still managed to show that he cared and wanted to help her. She had also seen Special Agent Dinozzo and Agent McGee erlier but she hadn't talked to either of them.

The three agents went to their desks and put their stuff down. Then they turned to Ziva and Ava. Tony went over to Ziva's desk to greet Ava: "Buon Giorno! I'm Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo but everyone calls me Tony. It is a pleasure to meet you." Ava smiled at him. He seemed to be funny and she already liked him. "Shalom. I'm Ava David born Schrokovsky but since Eli adopted me it's now David. And the pleasure is all mine." She said. Then McGee called from his desk "And I'm Timothy McGee but please just call me Tim." Ava chuckled. "Shalom! Okay, TIM!" Gibbs smiled when she chuckled. He had hoped to take her mind of everything a little bit. At least for a few days and obviously she liked the team which was definitely a start. "Ziva why don't you go home and take the rest of the week off ?" he offered "That will not be necessary. She can come to work I'll simply stay home alone or come with her." Ava said, feeling bad for the troubles that she would cause the team if Ziva too the week off. Ziva shook her head "No Ava it's fine. Thank you, Gibbs." "But Ziva, I really don't want to cause any problems or disadvantages for your team just because I'm too weak to get over this myself." Ava protested. At that last part Gibbs came over to her where she was sitting and headslapped her. Ava stared at him in disbelief: "What was that for?" "For saying you were weak. Ava I want you to know that not getting over being tortured by terrorist has nothing to do with being weak. I don't care what Mossad says about this but you have to let this go if you want to get over this." "I'm trying, okay? But it's not really that easy to let something go that has been knocked into you your entire life." Gibbs nodded. He understood what she meant, he knew how strict Mossad was but he never understood the sense of it. He felt terrible for her. "I know it is" he said. Ziva was grateful that Gibbs gad given her the week off. This way she might be able to get Ava to open up a little. "Okay Ava, let's go! I'm starving if you want me to I can make pasta tonight." Ziva remembered how Ava had always loved pasta as a kid. Ava's eyes lit up. "Yes that would be amazing." She got up and walked to where Ziva stood. "Okay then. Bye Gibbs. See you next week." Gibbs nodded "Bye and good luck, Ava." Ava turned to him and gave him a small sad smile "Todah. Schalom!"

**_Sorry that it's so short but I don't really know how to go on :/ _**


End file.
